Trey Gowdy: I'm Not Going to Fund Planned Parenthood

Rep. Trey Gowdy Friday called for defunding Planned Parenthood because the organization works to "prop up the abortion industry" through the sale of fetal body parts.

"The people I work for do not want to fund that," the South Carolina Republican told Shannon Bream on Fox News. "People can disagree about a woman's right to choose and Roe vs. Wade, but this is barbaric, depraved.

"Why do we need Planned Parenthood to prop up the abortion industry? I'm not going to fund it."

Gowdy, who chairs the special House committee investigating the 2012 Benghazi attacks that killed four Americans, was among 18 Republicans from the chamber who signed a letter Wednesday vowing to strip Planned Parenthood of its $528 million in public funding — even if it leads to a federal government shutdown.

The move came after new undercover videos released by the Center for Medical Progress showing Planned Parenthood staffers discussing the sale of the aborted body parts.

He told Fox that he was fully prepared for President Barack Obama to veto any legislation defunding the organization.

"The president loves to talk about bipartisanship, working together, so long as you do everything he wants you to do," Gowdy said. "That's his definition of bipartisanship.

"I'm not going to give taxpayer money to an entity that discusses the best way to sell body parts and whether or not you can perform procedures after a delivery and sell those parts in interstate commerce," he added. "I'm not going to fund it."

Turning to the new batch of emails the State Department released regarding Hillary Clinton's four years as secretary of state, Gowdy said that the heavily redacted documents will "probably not" help the Benghazi committee.

"We are in a constant battle with the State Department over the production of documents," he said. "We'll find out what happened with or without their help."

Clinton will testify before the panel in a public hearing on Oct. 22.

"We are marching on toward the October interview with the secretary, but we have 40 other interviews planned for fall," Gowdy said. "It would go better if the state department showed a little bit of interest in cooperating with the investigation.

"Put politics aside and help us find out what happened to the four brave fellow Americans, but so far the State Department has been incapable of doing that."